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(No Model.)

C. E. WILKINSON.

A PPAIHIIUS FOR BLOCKING HATS. No. 303,904. Patented Aug. 19,1884.

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CHARLES E. WILKINSON, OF MATTEAVAN, NE\V YORK, ASSIGNOR OF TW'O- THIBDS TO LEAVITT A. BALLOU, OF SAME PLACE, AND \VILLIAM (AR- ROLL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

APPARATUS FOR BLOCKING HATS.

cJBECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 303,904, dated August 19, 1884:.

(So model.)

To (all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, (insures E. WrLKiN- SON, of Matteawan, in the county of Dutchess and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Apparatus for Blocking Hats, of which the following is a specification. 4

My invention relates to apparatus for effecting the blocking, banding, and brimming of hats made of straw, felt, or other material; and it has for its object to provide for making a positive break or well-defined crease or line of separation around the hat between the base of its crown and its brim, and to more effect 5 ually aidin giving auniform width to the brim.

One portion of my invention consists in a banding device composed of a flexible metal ring having a flange around the interior of its lower edge, and means attached to the said ring for producing its contraction. The said ring is preferably made with a handle and an opposite rest for the arm of the workman, for the purpose of enabling him to hold and apply the ring to the hat-block with his left hand,

5 and to apply the necessary pressure to it with his left arm, while his right hand is free to operate the appliances for contracting the ring upon the body.

It further consists in the combination, with the said banding device, of a block conforming with the shape to be given to the hat, and having around the junction of the base of its crown portion with its brim portion a groove or crease, into which the hatbody is pressed by 5 the flange of the ring, to form a break or welldcfined crease between the base of the crown and the brim of the hat.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating my invention, showing the banding device applied to a hatbody upon the block. Fig. 2 is a central vertic-a1 section corresponding with Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of the ends of the ring and of a means for contracting the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

A designates a mold or block made of metal, and having its crown portion a and upper face of its brim portion 1) made to conform to the desired style of hat.

0 is a shallow groove or crease extending all around the base of the crown portion a at its junction with the brim portion b.

d d are wooden plugs driven tightly into holes provided in the brim portion Z. The said plugs serve to receive pins f, for the purpose of securing the marginal portion of the brim of the hat to the block, and keeping the brim in shape while drying after it hasbeen shaped.

B is a flexible metal ring, composed of a metal band of such length as to encircle the -crown portion a. of the block A and a hat, 0. placed thereon, and that when so applied its ends 9 g lap each other, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. This ring is made with an internal flange, 6, around its lower edge. The end g is provided with a slot, h, through which passes a pin, a, firmly secured to the end 51, and which serves as a fulcrum for the cam-lever j, and also to keep the two ends g g in line and their edges even.

is is a projection secured to the end 9, and is notched to receive the cam-lcvcrj and keep it close against the ring or band B.

Z is a stop secured to the end 5/, to prevent the cam-lever j turning back farther than is necessary. On turning the eam-levcr j downward the pin i and projection is will be forced apart, thereby contracting the diameter of the ring, which, after turning the cam-lever back to its vertical position, will expand again by its elasticity, and keep the projection 7; con tinually in contact with the curved edge of the cam-lever.

in is an arm-rest with a crutch-like head, and a is a handle, both of which are firmly sccured to the ring 13, being arranged at opposite points on the ring, so that the operator can use his left hand to carry the ring and place it on the hat-body and block, and use that hand and his corresponding arm to press the ring down, while the other hand is free-to work the cam-lever.

The body of the hat, having been brought to the proper stage for blocking by the usual process or processes, is moistened by water or steam, and applied to the mold or block A to undergo the blocking, banding, and brimming process. The ring B, being open to its fullest extent, is forced down to the base of the crown of the hat, and made to press the brim thereof down upon the brim portion 1) of the block by means of the handle a and arm-rest m, and is there contracted by means of the canrlever j, by which the flange e is forced into the groove of the block,carrying with it the base of the crown of the hat, and forming there the deformi ty of width.

sired break or crease; and the ring B, acting in this manner, tends to hold that portion of the hat very securely, while the rim is being pulled and stretched to produce the requisite uni- The arrangement of handle and arm-rest allows the ring to be held down by the weight of the arm of the workman, and obviates the necessity of making the ring heavy, which requires harder work to handle and interferes with the necessary elasticity.

I am aware that a clamping-ring composed of two rigid but separable sections held together by spring-pressure has been employed in hat-flanging machines. Such a ring is not composed of flexible metal. It is not capable of contraction throughout its entire circumference, and it has no inwardlyprojecting flange at its lower edge. I do not claim such a ring as of my invention.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters devices connected with the two ends of said band for contracting it upon a hat, substantially as herein described.

2. The combination, with the flexible metal ring or band B, provided with the flange 0, projecting inward from its lower edge, of the handle it and arm-rest-m, attached at opposite points to said flexible ring or band, and means for contracting the ring or band upon a hat, substantially as herein described.

3. The combination of the contractile internally-flanged metal ring B 0, having a handle, n, armrest 7n, pin 6, slot h, and projection is, and the cam-lever 7', working on said pin 13, and acting on said projection is to produce the contraction of said ring, substantially as herein described.

CHAS. E. XVILKINSON.

XVitnesses:

SHERWOOD PHILLIPs, SAMUEL K. PHrLLIrs. 

